Do you have a PR plan for 2016?

Public relations may be one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood tools in the average real estate brokerage’s marketing arsenal. Yet, the more you understand public relations and how it can be fully integrated into your marketing plans and sales activities, the greater your ability will be to make both more effective. As we begin a new year, ask yourself this question: Do you have a PR plan for 2016? What is PR? It’s no wonder most people are confused when trying to describe what PR really is. Trying to find one universal definition is futile: there are dozens. Here [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:25-07:00January 21st, 2016|Main category, Marketing, Our Services|Comments Off on Do you have a PR plan for 2016?

Syndicate like you Facebook

By now, everyone has experienced social media. The pinnacle of social media is Facebook. One of the early criticisms of social media marketing is that it is essentially spamming your friends. Posting the same thing every day is not going to make it more interesting. There is a lesson to think about here...let's switch sites. Every month, MLS systems are estimated to send out 200 million emails to consumers notifying them of new and updated listings. I think most people refer to them as auto-alerts or auto-notifications. That number of 200 million grows larger when you include the number of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:28-07:00November 20th, 2015|Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on Syndicate like you Facebook

5 Hot Trends in 2016 to Look for at NAR

This year’s REALTORS® Convention & Expo in San Diego traces its origins to the first Chicago meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges held May 12-14, 1908. One hundred and seven years later, some 20,000 real estate professionals will visit the San Diego Convention center where more than 400 organizations will display their offerings and pitch their products. 2016 promises to be a pivotal year of rapid adoption of sweeping innovations and the emergence of new powerhouses in the residential real estate matrix. Here are five hot trends to look for and listen at the workshops to learn [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:29-07:00November 11th, 2015|Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on 5 Hot Trends in 2016 to Look for at NAR

Brokers Need To Sharpen Their Value Story

WAV Group is re-launching a number of brokerage brands today. Re-launching a brand does not require a brand to change, but the brand communication changes. We review how the brand is communicated everywhere, but especially where the brand has the greatest reach – in your technology applications. A brand re-launch begins with a strategy to tell the story about why your brand is a good choice. We identify why your managers (employees) work for your firm so competitors do not hire them away. We define the reasons why agents (contractors) work for your firm so they cannot be recruited away. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:29-07:00November 11th, 2015|Main category, Marketing, Our Services|Comments Off on Brokers Need To Sharpen Their Value Story

Online Marketing is for Sellers, Recruiting, and Retention

It's November, the beginning of budgeting and planning for a successful 2016. WAV Group studies the online effectiveness of many of today’s leading brokers and provides audits and advisory services on optimizing these programs. The true measure of online effectiveness is closing a transaction. Unfortunately, we have observed that closing a transaction is coincidental to online marketing and not a direct correlation. The relationship between an agent and a consumer is akin to dating. Both parties must be attracted to one another. There needs to be a connection and the development of things like trust and confidence. It’s a dating [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:31-07:00November 2nd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, Our Services|Comments Off on Online Marketing is for Sellers, Recruiting, and Retention

RESO: Your job depends on it!

At the “CMLS Brings it to the Table” meeting at NAR Mid-Year, there was a great discussion led by some early adopters of the RESO Data Dictionary. They talked about the inherent benefits of creating a consistent data standard for all MLSs, Brokers and Technology Vendors. They talked about how data consistency creates an environment that will stimulate innovation and new thinking that will make it easier for REALTORS® to be successful. They talked about all how brokers will be able to operate more easily in multiple markets with a consistent data standard. Basically, our world with the RESO Data [...]

Time to Market

Shaping an idea or a strategy takes time. More importantly, it takes a well-structured catalyst that “just makes sense.” WAV Group has had the opportunity to work with some pretty fantastic visionaries on the future of real estate – powerful market makers that rethink things many times to carefully construct strategies for the greater good. The outreach with peers and competitors only drives the momentum and refines the structure. It is impressive and inspired. But these things take time to develop correctly. Upstream and the Broker Public Portal are the outcroppings of this industry-wide thinking. We are blessed to be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:44-07:00May 22nd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Time to Market

What ever happened to Trade Show Etiquette?

It could be just me. I may have attended too many trade shows. Yet somehow I believe Emily Post would have been appalled if she walked the exhibits at NAR Midyear. To add a little context, I have attended, exhibited, sponsored and run trade shows. In fact, I’m afraid to count the number of miles I have walked on trade show floors, having attended many NAR-FAR-CAR annuals, NAR Midyears, HomeBuilders/IBS, PCBCs, COMDEX, CES, IBC and others. I have also been the lead for many firms exhibiting at these same shows, and have found myself staffing exhibits, including too many hours [...]

Recruiting or Retention of Agents

In a recent meeting I attended of broker owners, there was a questions posed: What’s more important in your business – Recruiting or Retention of agents? There seemed to be an overwhelming lean toward recruiting and it is hard for me to understand why. When we look at operational effectiveness in a brokerage, we look at things like brand, leadership, and culture. Brand is measured by the opinion of agents and customers. Leadership is measured by the popularity of executives among staff, managers, and agents. Culture is the happiness measurement of executives, staff, managers, and agents. The common goal of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:45-07:00April 30th, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing|1 Comment

Are You International?

Sophisticated real estate companies in metropolitan areas do a lot of international business, or at least aim to do international business. To facilitate international business they belong to networks like Christies, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Real Estate, or international franchise organizations. International is also a significant strategic development initiative for brokerage firms with strong relocation departments. The trigger to securing inbound referrals from abroad is relationship building. If you are not reaching out to international corporations with locations in your area, or taking trips to develop referral relationships with feeder markets, you are not likely to [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:46-07:00April 27th, 2015|Main category, Marketing, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Are You International?

Trend MLS Case Study On Excellence

I was at the Swanepoel T3 summit a week ago and battled the misanthropic attitude toward MLS that bubbles up from agents and brokers. My commentary was specific. Not all MLSs are alike. Most MLSs with more than 5000 subscribers are excellent. Some MLSs with more than 10,000 subscribers are constantly improving their service levels to brokers and agents. One of those MLSs is Trend MLS. Case in point – Mobile image uploader Mobile image uploading is no simple task. That is why so few MLSs have this service available today. There are plenty that offer the ability to add [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:46-07:00April 23rd, 2015|Main category, Marketing, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Trend MLS Case Study On Excellence

Enabling an Ecosystem of Innovation for Real Estate

The MLS technology model has been relatively flat-footed for some time now. Many MLSs offer one MLS system, one Public Records system and other services like showing appointment software, document management, and they call it a day. In Part IV of his blog series last Thursday, Bob Bemis outlined a vision of a brand new way for MLS platforms to operate. A new program called AMP™ or Advanced Multi-List Platform™ that would leverage RPR is a very interesting and even scary concept to some. In its simplest definition, AMP would be the “back end” of an MLS. It would provide [...]